Saturday, January 01, 2011

Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger


Title: Murder in Mykonos
Author: Jeffrey Siger
ISBN: 9781590586914
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2010
Paperback, 279 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Inspector Kaldis mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

First Line: Just past midnight the massive Rodanthi ferry silently made its grand entrance into Mykonos' narrow, crescent-shaped harbor.

Athens, Greece knows just how to deal with hot-shot, outspoken, politically incorrect homicide detectives. Promoted out of Athens to serve as police chief for the island of Mykonos, Andreas Kaldis is certain his homicide days are done. He's going to be right in the middle of tourist heaven, and people just aren't murdered in such places. Famous last words, right?

When the remains of a young woman are found ritually bound and buried on a pile of human bones inside a remote mountain church, Kaldis teams with a savvy local homicide chief to find the killer before the news leaks out and destroys the island's reputation as a fun-- and safe-- place to party. Then a young woman disappears, and the race is on to identify a cunning predator.

I almost couldn't turn the pages fast enough as I read Murder in Mykonos. Siger put out a banquet for me, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss a crumb. Ancient and modern Mykonos was vividly brought to life, and Kaldis is a strong central character who longs to return to Athens-- and he's smart enough to know that the best way of doing that is by turning his department of officers fresh out of the academy into topnotch policemen.

The plot was engrossing as well, with a worthy villain whose devious mind kept him out of the spotlight and free to continue his spree. Tracking him down led me all over the island and into the history and lore of Mykonos which I really enjoyed.

As much as Kaldis wants to return to Athens, I'm hoping he'll stay on the island for another book or two. He and I both do well in such a beautiful setting!


4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the very kind words! I can assure you that although Andreas has moved on to Athens ("Assassins of Athens" was book two) that Mykonos plays a significant part in all his adventures, including "PREY ON PATMOS, An Aegean Prophecy," coming out this week from Poisoned Pen Press.

    Again, thank you, and I wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2011 and far, far beyond.

    Jeff

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  2. OK, Cathy, you did it! You made the first addition of 2011 to my TBR list!!

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  3. An A+ and you couldn't turn the pages fast enough? That means this is definitely going on my list.

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  4. Jeff-- Thanks so much for stopping by! I saw that your new book was coming out this week, and it's firmly ensconced on my wish list along with Assassins of Athens. (Book buying may be off limits for a while as I'm being nibbled to death by the medical bill ducks.)

    I also see that you're going to be at the Poisoned Pen at the end of January. I'm going to try to be there if at all possible.

    Margot-- I'd do a happy dance, but my ibuprophen hasn't kicked in yet. :(

    Barbara-- I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy it as much as I did.

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